Download Teach Yourself VISUALLY iPhone 5 epub

Glad for reviews that pointed out this is the book for those individuals who are getting their first iPhone. My husband was transitioning from a flip phone to iPhone 8 plus. Mine is a 6 so his will do things mine won't do. Especially with the photographs. I have learned somethings about my phone from looking at this book I didn't know. Pictures are very explanatory. Husband has quit asking me daily questions. I see him looking at this book. It is very basic. Very. Lots of pictures and the pictures show exactly where to look and what to do. I will definitely recommend it to my non technically gifted friends who call me at all hours of day and night with cell phone questions.

This book has it all for the iPhone novice, which is what I am. Whether you need answers to basic questions or detailed, this book will help. I would suggest, however, that readers simply use the phone as they might normally use it, but, using this book, gradually explore features as they need them. The book is probably thus used as a reference over a longer period of time. Over time, many features of the phone may never be used by many people, but just knowing what capabilities are available gives us confidence that if we do want to delve into them, this book will show us how to do that.

Sometimes I review products just for me and my tastes and other times I review them because I know and understand the audience that would love them. I'm reviewing this book a bit from my Dad's point of view because he would absolutely love it.

We've all got a parent or grandparent that isn't great with tech. They like to hold onto the tech they know and need someone to walk them through new technology when they do get around to upgrading. That walk through is usually in the form of step by step instructions (push this, then type that, then push this...etc) and that is what this book excels. This book is going to be perfect for someone that wants to learn to use their iPhone 5 or older device with iOS 6 by being told exactly what to do and being shown exactly where each button that needs to be pressed is. In short its the book I'd leave my Dad if I had to leave him alone with his new phone and didn't want him to give up and use it as a paper weight.

Following many set of instructions is a "tip" which is an extra fact or answer to a question you may have had about the set of instructions you just went over. I found some of the tips helpful and I actually liked some of the more condensed tip instructions better than the step by step instructions.

I've looked at several iPhone 5 manuals/guides. Most have beautiful color pictures and are generally well written. This one is no exception. Its a well designed book that walks the user through all of the major and most minor functions of their phone. It doesn't give much extra information that isn't required for use(for instance iPhone: The Missing Manual has greater depth about the phones innards), but I think this is by design because the target audience for this book may not care so much about why things work, just how to use them.

I could see someone reading this book cover to cover, but I think it is more likely to be used as a reference book as the step by step instructions strike me as more text book than read for pleasure. If this is how you plan to use the book you should be well set up. The index is fairly comprehensive and between it and the table of contents I was almost always able to quickly identify the section I was looking for.

Final thoughts.

I'm not saying that this is a book only for the tech challenged. I think its also probably one of the better reference style iPhone 5 books out there, getting most beginners up to speed quickly and providing a greater depth of skills to experienced users. For that it gets 4 stars.

But for someone who wants to know everything about their phone and can get by without a step by step visual walk through there are more complete books in a more readable style.

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UPDATE: COMPARATIVE RANKINGS
I never intended to read enough iPhone 5 "manuals" to truly compare them. First I just like learning about the phone. Then I got interested in the differences in teaching styles and ended up reading 5 really well put together books. I ended up rating them all relatively highly simply because they were all great books that will serve their target audiences very well. But since they're all great books you deciding on star ranking alone may not get you the right book so I'm adding a comparative ranking to each of my reviews to help you identify which target audience you might be in.

I still stand by my initial reviews, but with more background my perspective has definitely grown.

Overall Comprehensiveness:
1) The Missing Manual (iPhone: The Missing Manual) - Covers from the tech in the phone to multiple ways to do almost everything
2) My iPhone (My iPhone (Covers iPhone 4, 4S and 5 running iOS 6) (6th Edition)) - Maybe a touch less tech coverage than The Missing Manual, but not by much
3) iPhone 5 for Dummies (iPhone 5 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)))- A reasonably comprehensive guide that doesn't bog down in tech detail and covers fewer ways to do things than the missing manual
4) Teach Yourself Visually (Teach Yourself VISUALLY iPhone 5 (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))) - just a how-to usually one method per function
5*) iPhone 5 for Dummies for Seniors (iPhone 5 For Seniors For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))) - A moderately distilled version of the dummies book with more focus on "senior specific" topics

(*I thought this should be singled out for its special topics of interest which my override total comprehensiveness for some buyers)

Readability and Narrative:
1) The Missing Manual - Reads well and the author has a bit of a sense of humor. The lack of walk throughs actually tends to make reading flow more naturally
2) My iPhone - The narrative in this book made it accessible and helped disperse any nervousness you might have about learning a new tech device
2) iPhone 5 for Dummies - A readable book, but certainly not my favorite read and probably not something I'd read for fun (even if I am a bit of a tech geek)
4) iPhone 5 for Dummies for Seniors - Big text make this book "readable," but I wasn't engaged with the narrative
5) Teach Yourself Visually - This book is walk throughs its not for light reading

Walk throughs and step-by-step instructions:
1) Teach Yourself Visually - Tons of brilliantly detailed instructions with pictures that point out exactly where to press
2) My iPhone - Nice guides offset from the narrative in distinctive blue boxes with helpful pictures.
3) iPhone 5 for Dummies for Seniors - More guided instructions than the regular Dummies iPhone book, but not close to the Teach Yourself Visually book that I would recommend to my parents in terms of quantity or quality
4) iPhone 5 for Dummies
5) The Missing Manual - Step by step, button-by-button guides are not emphasized. The book isn't void of all instructions, but they are imbedded in text and assume that you read the first chapters and can find the appropriate buttons.

This is a very basic book which is exactly what this non-techy senior citizen needed to understand my iPhone.

My phone ringer was off for 2 days. When I discovered this, neither I nor my 2 teenage children (who are fairly tech-savvy) could figure out how to turn it back on. The phone itself offered no answers. As soon as we arrived home, I grabbed this clear, well-indexed book and immediately found that there was a hidden switch on the side of the phone (that I had inadvertently switched off when I searched for the charger input days earlier). The iphone 5 is my first smart phone. Using it is not intuitive to me. This book made the phone so easy to navigate. Buy this book as soon as you buy your iphone 5!

Excellent reference; super pictures and diagrams to follow. For a first time user of
an iPhone it was the best.

This book is for the true novice with an iPhone. It starts right where a new owner (who has never used an iPhone before) needs to start. I turned in my Droid for iPhone 5, and this book has helped me tremendously. Who knew that you start by plugging the phone into your computer before you start? Well, I didn't know. Probably most others know this, but I am not that tech-savy. So this book is for me! If you are new to an iPhone and not tech-savy, this book is for you. (I only gave it 4 stars because it has soooo much information that I feel that I need to read first, and I don't have the time to read everything -- cover-to-cover.) The organizational content of the book is such that it starts at the beginning of anything you want to learn (how-to get started all the way to becoming an expert). For me, I would have preferred a short summary of just the beginning stuff I need to know; then let me read the details later -- after I have played with the phone some more. Maybe your methodology for learning is different. But definitely a great book for a beginner.

I purchased this book after another person said this would be the iPhone book he would recommend to his parents. I upgraded from a dumb phone to an iPhone 5 and was overwhelmed. This book is perfect for those of us who are not smart phone literate. The pictures, along with the directions, guide you through most everything you will want to do with your new iPhone 5. Great resource book for my new iPhone 5 and I never leave home without it if I am going overnight.